Fast Cars and Freedom
by The Great WTF
Summary: Lightning McQueen was killed in one of the worst wrecks in racing history, and Sally swore their daughter would never be allowed to know about it. Thirteen years changes things, not always the things that need to, and not always for the better.
1. Then You Stand 1

**Edit: Okay, now I feel like an idiot. Why didn't someone point out that Arial's name was CLOUD through the ENTIRE FIRST CHAPTER?! Not only that, it's the wrong version!!! dies Grr. I'm never letting my brother near my stories again... He switched everything on me!**

**Well, I didn't expect this... jeeze, a Pixar movie... but, whatever, Cars is a kick $$ movie! but, I've made one discovery: I CAN'T write Cars... I just can't, not in this lifetime. I'm always putting way too much emphasis on hands and stuff like that. It just sounds awkward when I try to write them as cars, so they're gonna be human in this story. Sorry. Blame my lack of adaptability.**

**As for Lightning being dead... well, I'm in a slightly angsty mood at the moment (my dad's in the hospital with phneumonia again,) and I needed a good plot device. The logic behind what's happening in the story will be sorted out in the next chapter or two, especially what happened with Sally after Lightning died. And yes, Lightning's accident is gonna play a really big part later.**

_**Fast Cars and Freedom  
Then You Stand**  
Part 1: Her Father's Daughter_

_'She looks at me with those big blue eyes:  
__She's got me in the palm of her hands,  
__And I swear sometimes it's just like you're here again.  
She smiles that little crooked smile:  
There's no denying she's your child.  
Without her I don't know what I'd do:  
She gets that from you:  
Oh, she gets that from you.'_

"RIIIISE 'N' SHIIIINE!!!!"

Sally McQueen groaned and rolled out of bed, trudging over to her window, "Mater! It's way too early to-" "Hi, Mom!" a blur of red and black shot by the window, "Bye, Mom!" Sally sighed in exasperation and shook her head, "Stay out of trouble you two!" A dual chorus of "Yes Mom!" came from the retreating duo, "And I want her home before dark, Mater!" Her only answer was the familiar sputtering starter on Mater's precious tow truck. Sally smiled despite herself and turned to the picture sitting near the window, "She's your daughter alright... Oh, Lightning, if you could see her now..."

Lightning McQueen had been dead for thirteen years, killed in one of the worst wrecks in racing history in the final stretch of what would have been his fourth Piston Cup. The whole world had rang with rumors of sabotage and foul play for months, but nothing was ever proven. Sally had sworn, after that, that their daughter would never have anything to do with racing.

It had taken her five years to remarry, and she had chosen to do so only for the sake of her daughter. The decision had left much of the town scratching their heads, after all, why would she need anyone to help raise her and Lightning's daughter when the whole town already treated the child as their own. But they did not question it. It wasn't long after that Arial took to haunting the V8 and Doc Hudson's office, more than ready to get away from home as long as humanly possible. Sally was glad she could.

Sally opted to get a few more hours of sleep (at least until the sun was more than a sliver of slightly lighter black above the mountain) before dragging herself awake and down to Flo's. She was immediately assaulted by a livid, mud-splattered Sarge, "That little terror of yours nearly killed me!" Fillmore was trying to calm him down through fits of laughter.

And so began another day in Radiator Springs...

"Hard to believe yer almost thirteen, Lil' Lightnin',"

"Hard to believe ya lived that long,"

"Ha, ha, real funny, Angel, real funny. Angel! Damn, Angel, stop laughing!"

"Sorry, Ari, you know I love ya, right? I don't mean anythin' by it! Ow! Hey!"

Doc Hudson smiled as he heard the trio coming up the road. Arial McQueen was almost thirteen years old and the spitting image of Lightning, bright red hair that stuck up in every conceivable direction, splatter freckles across 75 of her body, and gorgeous blue eyes to make the sky jealous. She'd been racing since she was ten, without her mother's knowledge or consent, naturally. Sally and her husband were probably the only ones who were oblivious to what she was up to.

"Hey, race you guys up to the Wheel Well!"

Acted just like him, too, right down to proudly being claimed by Mater as his mini best friend despite her protests of him driving a "rusty ol' POS that I wouldn't drive if my life depended on it." Though, Doc did not doubt he would spend the rest of his life wondering how Lightning McQueen's daughter had chosen Flo and Ramone's four years older son as her other partner in crime (and partner in racing.) Doc had given her a rebuilt classic Mustang to drive to and from her work at the Wheel Well motel (and for racing, but her mom did _not_ need to know that.) Sheriff had happily turned a blind eye to the fact that she was underage.

"Seems kinda unfair that she's not allowed to know that her dad was a racer,"

Doc shrugged, affording Arial a smile as she raced past the window to where her precious Mustang was waiting, "It's her mom's choice, Sheriff. Sally thinks it's for the best, and it's not our place to say she's wrong." He sighed, glancing sideways at the pictures on his work table, "Even if we all know she is. All we can do is pretend we don't see Lightning in her as much as we all do.

Sheriff growled angrily, "It's that husband of hers-"

"Drop it, Sheriff. We can't do anything." _'At least, not for now.' _A crack of thunder rattled the office windows, making both men jump. Doc gazed in surprise out the window, "When'd it get so dark?"

Sheriff followed his gaze, a dark frown crossing his face, "I'm not normally the superstitious type, Doc, but storms like this usually roll around when something bad happens to the girls..."

To out of towners, the sight of an old, rusted tow truck, a tricked out '69 Cadillac, and a bright green classic Mustang racing up the road towards the Wheel Well Hotel was always a stunning sight, especially when it was threatening to storm at any moment. To the locals, it was a source of amusement and joy, because they knew exactly who drove those cars, and what it meant to see that Mustang flying around curves at breakneck speeds. Even Sarge, for all his grumping about how much trouble the trio caused, particularly early in the morning, found himself smiling just a little as he spotted them racing up the road.

Arial McQueen stared dejectedly at the computer screen in front of her. If it weren't for what was waiting for her at home she wouldn't have been working at the Wheel Well in the first place. Stupid guilty conscience and stupid town. She should have been out racing. Angel wasn't even there to keep her company. He was working the body shop with Ramone, and Mater was out on a call, and Doc never had time to leave his office anymore. If only the town wasn't so _busy._

There were times when it was really all Arial could do not to just jump in Christine (as Angel and Ramone had christened her after the old Mustang had nearly killed both of them in several random accidents while they were repainting it) and drive off into neverwhere. Those few times she had attempted this, someone would inevitably head her off (usually Doc) and remind her that, anywhere outside of town, she was underage and would only get dragged back anyway, probably a lot less politely than Sheriff could, or Sarge for that matter. That had been an adventure, and a chase no one in town would soon forget.

"I should be workin' the V8 with Flo," she grumbled, "or, better yet, the body shop with Ramone or hangin' out with Doc or Sarge and Fillmore, not sitting here in this stupid hotel waiting for-"

"Um... hi,"

Arial jumped, nearly spilling her tea on the keyboard, "Oh! Sorry!" She leapt to her feet and smoothed out her, she shuddered internally, skirt, "Welcome to the Wheel Well. How can I help you?" It was only then that she actually _looked _at the boy standing in front of her. "Holy cow, is that a racing jacket?"

He looked down then gave her a wolfish smile, "Yeah, my dad's. He used to be a Piston Cup racer, and I'm starting this year."

"Wow," Arial sighed, pulling at a loose bit of red hair, "you're sooo lucky. I'll be lucky if my parents even let me start driving." _Not that I listen to them anyway. _"I'd kill to be able to race in the Piston Cup."

"I heard a couple pretty famous racers actually lived 'round here,"

"You're kiddin', right?" Arial laughed, "Racers? Here? Like who?"

It was at that moment that Angel backed in through the double doors, arms laden with the lunch the duo usually shared, just in time to hear their visitor say, in no uncertain terms, "Like the Hudson Hornet and Lightning McQueen."

"Oh, shit..."

Arial's blue eyes glazed over, making hundreds of warning bells in Angel's head go off all at once. She went into an almost robotic trance, setting up the reservation the boy wanted to make without question. Angel wondered if she even registered the name Strip Weathers as she put it in the computer. Disaster was about to strike Radiator Springs. Hard. And Lightning McQueen's daughter was in the center of it all.

Luke Weathers gave Arial a wink and brushed past Angel, spilling one of Fillmore's organic smoothies all over Angel's jacket.

"Ari? You okay, chika?"

"I... I need to go talk to Doc... I don't feel so hot..."

And then, all hell broke loose.

**End: Part 1  
**

**Please R&R  
**


	2. Then You Stand 2

Yay! Next chapter complete! falls over dead Now just ot finish it before PC Repair's over... Well, random info: Thanks to my wonderful beta reader, Nao-chan! I got my driver's license today!! celebrates Now, it'll be LEGAL when I steal my brother's car to pick my friends up! gets slapped by common sense Anyway, on with the story...

**_Fast Cars and Freedom  
Then You Stand_  
** Part 2: Ready to Run**  
**

_'You feel like a candle in a hurricane  
Just like a picture with a broken frame  
Alone and helpless  
Like you've lost your fight  
But you'll be alright_'**  
**

Doc Hudson, while more than used to Arial spontaneously bursting into his office, was still quite stunned when the red-haired girl banged his door open and simply stood there, soaking wet, rain pouring down behind her, with her hands balled into fists and eyes glazed over. That was never a good sign. A bolt of lightning struck behind her, making her seem to be no more than a dark shadow standing in the door.

Doc retained his senses enough to finish the stitches on Sarge's arm ("And _what_ did you do this time?" "Don't. Ask.") though neither man took their eyes off of Arial for more than a few seconds.

"You two knew, didn't you?" she asked calmly, acidly. Doc flinched.

Stab.

"Knew what, Arial?" Doc asked calmly.

Pull.

"Don't bullshit me, old man." Even Sarge winced that time.

Stab.

"Who told you?" If Arial noticed the even sharper than usual bite in Sarge's voice, she did not acknowledge it.

Pull.

"Some guy up at the Wheel Well."

Stab.

Doc smiled grimly, "I always said that you're just like your dad, kid."

Pull.

Normally, that line pulled at least a small smile from Arial, but this time she just glared.

Stab.

"Your dad was the best racer in the world, Arial," Sarge finally admitted, returning the deadly glare with practiced ease, "The best I've ever seen, and there's nobody around here'd tell you different." He closed his eyes, letting the angry mask fall for the first time Arial could remember, "When your dad died it... it hit all of us really hard... but no one worse than your mom."

Pull.

"She made us all swear that we'd never tell you about him, about the racing, really, anything about the real Lightning," Doc added, "We thought she'd get over it after a while..."

Stab.

The glaze hadn't lifted from her eyes, but it did nothing to conceal the tears in them.

Pull.

"She was trying to protect you, Arial."

Doc cut the excess suture line, wiping away the last of the blood on Sarge's arm absently, and set aside his tools. With a loving smile, he held his arms open to Arial. She made a small noise that might or might not have been a word and collapsed into the old racer's embrace. "I'm so sorry, Arial," he whispered, gently stroking her choppy mass of red hair, "I'm sorry for everything..."

**_Sky blue eyes lookin' up at me_**

"Thanks, Doc." Sally set down the phone with a relieved sigh, "She's at Doc's. He says she's gonna stay with him for the night."

"And you're letting her?"

Sally cringed, giving her a husband a hard look, "Something happened up at the Wheel Well. She's scared. She looks up to Doc."

"Doc's not her father."

"Neither are you," Sally winced even before the words had finished leaving her mouth. The force of the blow knocked her to the ground.

_**Like I have all the answers**_

"I hate her,"

Doc sighed hand handed the steaming mug in his hands over to Arial, making careful note of the dozens of small scratches and scars that covered her small hands, "You don't hate her."

She stared at her mug for a few minutes, lost in thought. Finally, she looked up from her cup, giving him a hard, sharp look, "What else has she been hiding from me?" A few choice secrets came readily to mind, but Doc remained quiet. "I saw that."

"Saw what?"

"That look. What else have you guys been hiding?"

If there was one thing Arial had that Lightning didn't, it was an unnervingly sharp mind, one that never failed to surprise the adults around her. Suddenly, something flashed dangerously in her clouded blue eyes, "You! You're the Hudson Hornet, aren't you?!"

Doc blinked. Yes, definitely very sharp. He couldn't help it. He laughed.

"What's so funny?" she asked angrily.

Doc smiled weakly, shaking his head, "Your dad didn't figure that out until he found my Piston Cups stashed out in my garage, and he grew up knowing my name. He may have been a good racer, but he wasn't the sharpest of screws." This made Arial laugh, too. Doc smiled and leaned over to plant a gentle kiss on her brow, "You're your dad's, alright, kid, but you've got a little bit of your mom in you, too."

A pair of arms snaked their way around Doc's neck and hugged him tightly. Arial pressed her face into the crook of his neck, "Thanks, Doc."

_**I hope I have the ones you need**_

"No, no, you've gotta make it less obvious, Dad, or she'll notice it and skin us all alive!"

"I think you might be givin' her a little too much-" **_BANG!_**

Sally stormed into the Body Shop, barely even looking around before finding the two hunched over a design page, "What happened at the Wheel Well?"

Ramone and Angel exchanged looks and bit down the urge to say "The inevitable," and instead remained hunched over the design they were working on.

Sally glared at their backs in exasperation, resisting the urge to grab Ramone by his dreadlocks or Angel by his cornrows and haul them out of the shop. "Ramone!" she stomped her foot instead.

"If she ain't told ya yet, it ain't our place," Ramone replied.

"Go ask her yaself," Angel added bitterly. Neither bothered to look up from the sketch.

"She won't talk to me!" Sally shouted in exasperation.

Father and son finally sat up and turned to Sally, identical furious looks on their faces, "Good."

**_I've never really done this, now I know what scared is_**

"Nice bruise."

Arial grunted in response.

"Fell down the imaginary stairs again?" Doc couldn't help but wince as he studied Arial's back for the millionth time since she'd first come to him with that burn on her arm.

She laughed mirthlessly, "More like fell really hard back-first into a wall."

"And these?" he tapped the yellowish bruises on her bare shoulders.

"Seatbelts?" she suggested weakly.

"Bullshit." Doc sighed, tracing the bruises that lined Arial's back, the healing cuts and healed scars, "She didn't want this." Doc had spent more time cleaning Arial's wounds than most of the boys in town combined. For once, she didn't need to be fixed up. All that he could prescribe now is well deserved rest and maybe a shot of whiskey.

"Then why does she let it happen?"

Doc had no answer for that. He never did. Instead, he replied, "You know, you're almost thirteen."

"Yeah, so?"

Doc stared at Arial's bruises for a moment longer, the scars he'd tended and the broken bones he'd repaired. There was a burn reaching from the top of her left shoulder that went down in to her elbow, and in some places her wrist, that looked more like flames than a grease burn. She always said it was her favorite scar.

"'Round here, you're legally old enough to choose who to live with, if your parents are split up or... someone petitions the courts to adopt you." Arial went rigid, her hands going up to toy with the key to her Mustang, which she always kept around her neck. "I..." he touched her arm, "Only if it's what you want, Era..." Arial smiled at the old nickname. Doc had said it meant 'wind,' like her personality, always moving, always changing, a gentle caress that could easily turn to a devastating icy fist.

Without making a sound, Arial stood up, pulled her shirt back on, and headed out the door. For the first time in her life, Arial realized that she didn't want Doc to see her cry.

**End Part 2**

**Please R&R, Thanks Nao-chan!!**


	3. Then You Stand 3

**Okay, third chapter done! _falls over_ Me 'n Nao were up till almost 2am my time finishing this... Holy hell... Well, thanks to my great reviewers/readers. I hope to have the last part of Then You Stand done by Wednesday. I've got it sketched out on paper, just need to transfer it to the computer.**

**For the record, the little bonding moment between Mater and Arial has been floating around in my head since the first time I watched Cars, and I'm so freaking happy to finally get it out of my head! It's depressing!**

**_Fast Cars and Freedom  
__Then You Stand  
_**_Part 3: To Remember Tomorrow  
_

_'The stars that pierce the sky  
He left them all behind  
We're left to wonder why  
He left us all ... behind _

_Dreams of his crash Won't pass   
Oh how they all adored him  
Beauty will last  
When spiralled  
Down.'_

Flo felt more than saw the small girl enter her cafe. Not a strange thing, really, Arial normally seemed to slip through the shadows almost completely unnoticed unless she _wanted_ you to notice her, but there was something in the air that night that made her look up.

"Hey, Flo," was the only thing Arial could say to the worried expression her godmother gave her.

Flo stared at the redhead for all of a minute before turning quickly back into her kitchen. Arial fell into her favorite over-sized, squashy armchair near the front entrance and rested her head on the armrest. It was one of the many that had somehow ended up there, in the corner the normal "crew" usually occupied. At the moment, the cafe was blissfully unoccupied. When Flo returned, she gave the girl a loving smile and pushed a hot mug into her hands filled with cocoa laced with just a little bit of whiskey, the favorite drink of all three of Radiator Springs' resident racers. "Wanna talk, honey?" she asked, pushing Arial's legs over a little so she could sit next to the girl.

"Did Angel tell you what happened?" she asked absently, sipping her drink.

Flo nodded, "Sally came by earlier askin' what happened." Arial went rigid. She was not ready for her mom to know that. "The boys didn't say a word, and neither did I."

Arial smiled, "Thanks, Flo." They sat in silence for several minutes, Arial quietly sipping half-heartedly at her drink while Flo waited patiently. When she wanted to talk, she would talk. "What if you had an out?" she finally asked, not looking up, "what if someone you love didn't?"

Flo smiled sadly. Spend enough time heading off born troublemakers like Ramone and Angel, and you learn to be just as fast in mind as in body, and that came in handy when dealing with the mental games that came with Arial from time to time.

"Do you suffer with them? Do you escape?" Flo gazed sadly at the girl, lost in the cruelty of the world and the harshness of the people in it. "Can I just walk away from her?"

With a sigh, Flo put an arm around Arial and hugged her close, letting the smaller girl rest her head against her chest, "You gotta remember somethin', honey..." She closed her eyes and kissed Arial on top of the head, "Some of us have outs from the beginning, we just fool ourselves into thinking we can't take them." She hugged Arial again and got up, sparing the girl a loving smile before returning to her work.

Arial sat there for a long time.

**_Sometimes I'll protect you from everything that's wrong  
Other times I'll let you just find out on your own  
_**  
Sheriff always wondered what possessed Arial to spend hours at a time sitting in his car behind the Radiator Springs sign with him. Sometimes they would talk about nothing, sometimes about things that were really important, though never about what was happening at Arial's home. Sometimes they would simply sit in total, comfortable silence for hours at a time until Arial fell asleep or Sally sent Mater to come get her. Somehow, he doubted either of those things would be happening tonight, though.

"Would he really be allowed to do that?"

Sheriff barely glanced at the child sitting next to him before laughing out loud. That had to be the fifth time in two hours she'd asked that question. He could understand her shock, of course, and a lot of the other things that were probably going through her mind right now. He could still clearly see Mater at five years old wearing a very similar, pardon the pun, lightning-struck expression the day he had learned that he was being adopted.

It had taken just under two hours for the inhabitants of Radiator Springs to learn what had transpired at the Wheel Well the day before, another day before the tight circle of loved ones that had managed to gather themselves around Lightning McQueen's daughter learned that Doc intended to adopt her. Arial alone seemed to have trouble believing that it was really happening, which resulted in some very odd behavior.

Sheriff had to wonder if the old racer knew what he was getting into by taking in the hotrod's daughter, "Would you stop sayin' that? You'll jinx yourself." Arial smiled guiltily, making Sheriff laugh again, "I'll tell you a secret, kid. I've known Doc a long time, and I've never seen him get as attached to anyone as he did to your dad. Lightnin' was, as far as any of us were concerned, his son, and I've only seen him behave that way towards one other person."

"Who's that?" Arial asked.

"An amazin' little girl by the name of Arial."

The surprised and delighted look that passed across Arial's face suddenly made all the trouble Sheriff had gone through for her worth it. All the times he had chased her down, all the times he had "conveniently" showed up when Sally wasn't around and Arial was left alone with her husband were suddenly more than worth it. He lived for that smile some days.

**_But that's when you'll be growin',  
And the whole time I'll be knowin   
_**  
"Mom! I'm home!" Arial called as she dropped her backpack on the floor and poked her head into the kitchen, hoping for some sign of the town lawyer. No such luck. She grabbed her bag and began heading for her room. If she was lucky, Sally and Garon were out somewhere and she'd be able to lock herself in her room before- "Arial!" Damn. "You're in for it this time, you self-righteous little bitch!"

If there was one thing you never did with men like Garon, it was give them a clean shot at your face. That one simple trick had probably saved her life (or at least her looks) more than once since the man had come to live with them. Moving on the simple knowledge that the voice had come from in front of her, Arial twisted her head to the side just in time for the familiar feeling of a fist crashing into the side of her skull knocked her to the ground. Garon hauled her back to her feet by her hair and, putting his other hand around her neck, slammed her against the door to her room, "Think you can just run off like that?"

The world swam before Arial's eyes, but she knew better than to try to fight back. It would only make it worse. All she could do was remember that it would be over soon. 'One more month,' she thought desperately as Garon shouted at her, 'On more month, and I'll be out of here forever...' And then, she blacked out.

**_You're gonna fly with every dream you chase  
You're gonna cry, but know that that's okay_**

'One more month' became the mantra that carried Arial through the next two weeks of 'house arrest' that Garon put her under as punishment for running off without his permission. That thought alone kept her from tears some night, but it also gave her something to think about, a small idea that began rolling around like a marble in her mind until it was bouncing off the walls, screaming to be paid attention to. The ensuing headache, which in itself was nothing strange, prompted Arial to do something completely suicidal: sneak out while Garon was passed out on the couch.

"Shooot, Lil' Lightnin', you scared me!"

Arial grinned guiltily. She had been sitting in front of the impound for the last half hour, waiting for Mater to get back from his most recent call. "Can I talk to you?"

"O'course, you can talk ter me 'bout anythin', you know that!"

So, the duo drove up to the waterfall on the road up to the Wheel Well, taking a small back road to their secret "hideout" at the base of the waterfall. It was the perfect place to escape from the rest of the world for a while, the one place where not even Doc or Angel could find them.

"You dun' look so good."

"Don't feel too good, either," Arial admitted, "I think one of my ribs is busted..."

"Then why ain'cha at Doc's gettin' fixed up? You're gonna hurt yerself even more!" Mater protested, waving his arms a little for emphasis.

Despite how much it stung to do so, Arial stretched out on a rock hanging over the river the waterfall fell into, "I'll be fine, Mater, really. I just... I gotta talk to somebody about what's goin' on, and I know I can trust you with some of the stupid stuff that I say."

Mater gave her a bemused look, which in itself was usually enough to make Arial laugh, "You never say nuthin' stupid, Lil' Lightnin'."

Arial gave a short, slightly hysterical laugh, then winced and rubbed her sore sides. With a cringe, she pulled up her shirt a little to glare at the purplish-yellow bruising that made up much of her side, "Man, I think I'm gonna look into all the crap Fillmore's been feedin' me about health food... I heard somethin' about it helping with bruising."

Mater laughed a little, "So, what's buggin' ya? I mean, ya should be happy. Doc's gonna adopt ya, ain't 'e?"

"I wanna know about my dad, Mater, like about his racing and stuff. How'd he end up here, and how'd he end up makin' friends with guys like you and Doc? Hotshot racers don't normally end up in little nowhere towns like this."

Mater gave her a thoughtful look, leaning back on his hands and staring up at the sky out from under his hat, "I dun' really know where to start. You dad kinda just blew inta town one day, and ended up tangled up in a phone line while he was at it."

"Seriously?" Arial laughed, "How'd he manage that?"

By the time Mater's story was finished, Arial had laughed to hard he was worried she was going to damage her ribs even more. For a long time they simply sat there, stretched out in the sun and watching the clouds drift by. Finally, Arial rolled in her side to look at Mater, "Is that why you always look so sad?"

Mater sat up, "Wha'?"

"Your smile's really sad," Arial muttered, rolling back onto her back and putting her hands behind her head, "it's because I remind you so much of my dad, isn't it?"

Mater closed his eyes, "Of course I miss yer dad, Lil' Lightnin', he was me best friend."

"That's gotta be the weirdest thing I've ever heard of," Arial sighed, "but seriously, am I that much like my dad that it depresses you just to look at me?"

Mater sat up so fast that Arial jumped. He turned a glare on her that would have frightened the most terrifying of monster trucks, "What did you jus' say?" Arial gave him a look that quite plainly said 'What do you think I just said?' Mater grabbed her by the arm and pulled her up, making a frightened look cross Arial's face, "Don'chu ever say somethin' like tha' again, you hear me? I love ya because yer so much like yer dad, understand? I promised him I'd look after you, and ya mean everythin' ta me." He paused, closing his eyes tightly, "Yer all I got left o' him..."

"Mater..." Arial whispered, "I..." unable to think of anything to say, she wrapped her arms around the much taller man's neck hugged him.

**_Sometimes life's not fair, but if you hang in there  
You're gonna see that sometimes bad is good_**

Doc gave her black and blue ribs an experimental poke, drawing a pained hiss from his patient. He had recently come to the conclusion that, of all the things he would enjoy once Arial was under his care, the one he would most love would definitely be an end to these near-midnight visits that consisted of Mater forcibly dragging Arial in because of some wound or another that she had neglected to bring in herself for some unintelligible reason.

Granted, this one, once he had gotten the information out of her, was probably a little more valid.

"Where was Sally?" She shrugged helplessly, afraid she would do something immensely stupid if she opened her mouth now, throwing up from the pain being the least of them. "Well, nothing broken," Doc announced finally, "just a little bruising again. Be thankful you're a lot tougher thank you look." He pulled out a roll of bandages and began meticulously wrapping them around Arial's damaged torso.

Arial smiled, "Hey, Doc?"

Doc paused, "Yeah?"

"I..." she stopped, closed her eyes.

Doc continued working. There were times when he swore Arial was going on thirty, not thirteen, like right now with that look of sad contemplation on her bruised face. One of these days he swore he would kill Garon himself, just because he had to see that look. He pinned the bandage and gently placed his hands on Arial's shoulders, well aware of the painful bruises there, "Era... you're shaking."

The comment made something snap in Arial's mind. "Do you... do you think my dad would be mad at me if I started calling someone else 'Dad'?"

Doc froze, hands on her shoulders, unable to keep from staring at the blue-eyed child.

"Doc?" she asked uncertainly, "Doc, you're crying..." she reached up and brushed the tears off his face with her burned hand. It made Doc smile, just a little, because he had sworn that the nerve damage was too severe for her to ever use that hand again.

"No, Era." She jumped. "I... don't think he'd mind at all."

**_We just have to believe things work out like they should  
Life has no guarantees, but always loved by me  
You're gonna be_**

**End Part Three**

**Please R&R!  
**


	4. Then You Stand 4

**Holy... sorry this took so long guys. I've had this written for... forever, but I hated the ending didn't want to publish it until I came up with a better one... so I did.**

_**Fast Cars and Freedom  
Then You Stand**  
Part 4: Stand_

_'I hope you never look back, but you never forget,  
all the ones who love you, and the place you left,  
I hope you always forgive, and you never regret,  
and you help somebody every chance you get,  
Oh, you find God's grace, in every mistake,  
and always give more than you take.'_

Sally was a little surprised when Arial asked her to come down to the V8. The girl rarely, if ever, asked anything of her mother, especially when she knew Garon was in a bad mood. But tonight she had, and she found Arial not in her normal seat in front of the cafe surrounded by her "family," the family Lightning had built, but in the back at a small table with an unreadable expression forcibly glued on her face.

Her thirteenth birthday had been more than either could have hoped for. Ramone and Angel had repainted Christine dark blue, almost black, with white and blue lightning arcing from the hood and down the sides and had gotten Doc to help them install a new, souped up engine into her. Sally had thought that was going a little far, especially when she spotted the names Lighting McQueen and Hudson Hornet expertly hidden within the lightning splay, but remained silent about it. Arial had just been thankful she had not noticed, among other things, the two sets of race number expertly etched into several faces on and in the car.  
Flo, Lizzie, and the twins (who had come to visit Radiator Springs almost twenty years ago and never left) made her a cake the size (and shape) of a small car. It was all Sally could do not to laugh when she realized it was modeled after Doc's old Buick.  
Sarge, much to Sally's horror and Doc's utter bemusement, gave her a new paintball gun, fully loaded, ready to use with a promise to convert part of his boot camp into a shooting range. While Sally was busy arguing with Arial over what she would be doing with the new weapon, Sarge quietly slipped a loaded .44 to Doc with a grim smile. "You're taking a big chance," he'd warned, just loud enough for Arial to hear as she wandered back over, "I hope you're ready for what could happen." Fillmore, with a laugh, counteracted his "war-crazed neighbor" with something that caused Sally an equal amount of distress, though for an entirely different reason: a pair of white and black kittens. The sight of them alone had sent Arial into a near-euphoric state. It was not until later that Fillmore rather gleefully told Arial that the kittens were Sarge's idea, and thus just as much his gift as the hippie's, which ultimately resulted in Arial, apparently randomly, hugging war vet around the neck and kissing him on the cheek.  
Mater brought her a pile of comic books that were probably as tall as she was when not split into separate stacks, and, slipped into the pages, were dozens of picture and newspaper clippings about Lightning and Doc's racing careers. Upon finding one, Arial had very nearly tackled Mater to the ground in delight.  
Sheriff, trying to conceal a grin and failing miserably, presented her with a new pendant, a locket with a lightning bolt etched into it that held a picture of Lightning and Sally's wedding day on one side and Doc standing in front of his prized race car on the other. By this point, Sally had been close to shouting, and she had not even noticed half of the hints the others were dropping.  
Red's gift, much to Sally's surprise, had left Arial speechless, one of his prized flowers, an Indian Lotus. It was one of the plants Lightning had given him in apology for destroying his flowers when he first came crashing through town.  
The last gift, Sally's, had nearly brought Arial to tears. After her arm had been burned, Doc had, in no uncertainty, said she would probably never be able to use that arm again. The burning had be too extensive. More out of wishful thinking than anything, Doc had found an old, 32 string harp in his garage, not that he could remember where it had come from in the first place, and given Arial the challenge of learning how to play it. Six years, a lot of frustrated tears, and even more work later, Doc could not believe what had happened. Sally's gift had been a full-sized dark redwood gothic harp custom etched with lotus vines climbing up its sides and the lyrics of 'My Wish' etched into the back.

"Something's wrong, isn't it?" Sally asked, seeing the glazed look in her daughter's eyes, "Arial, baby, what is it?"

"I..." Arial closed her sky blue eyes, "Mom..." Without another word, she slid the papers under her hands across the table, then sat back and stared at the shaking hands.

"Arial... What is this?"

...They're adoption papers, Mom."  
_  
"You can't possibly be serious about this, Sally." _

"And why not? Arial needs a father, one that isn't going to treat her like she's the daughter of some famous racer."

"But she is, Sally, and the whole world's going to grow up knowing about him. Do you really think you can keep that a secret from her forever?"

"I'm going to try."

"Has he hit you yet?"

"Doc!"

"What about her? What if he hurts her, Sally? You think that's what Lightning would want?"

"He wouldn't-!"

"If I see so much as an errant bruise on that girl, Sally, I swear to you I'll have her taken from you."

"Oil, Sally! Hot fucking oil! I could see the bone in her arm!"

"It was an accident, Doc!"

"How much longer are you going to keep lying to yourself? Your daughter, Lightning's daughter, is never going to be able to use her arm again! She's six, Sally! Dear God, what else do I need to tell you?"

"Sixteen broken bones, three hundred fifty-two stitches, five hundred bruises, a burn that very nearly destroyed her ability to use her left arm, not to mention the mental trauma. She's got more injuries at thirteen than I've had in my life! How much more evidence do you need? How many times do we have to go through this? If you don't let her out now, Sally, I'll take her out!"

"I need out, Mom."

Tears sprang to Sally's eyes as she gazed at her daughter, studying the not-quite-there bruise on her cheek, the scrapes and bumps, the stitched cut over her eyebrow, the gruesome burn that ran from shoulder to fingertips on her left arm. Even closed, Sally could still see the life in Arial's eyes, wild and blazing and so full of love and light, just like Lightning, and so close to breaking.

_"That's the difference between you and her, Sally. He's broken your heart and broken your spirit and turned you into a shell of what you used to be. But he can't do that to her, no matter how hard he tries. As long as she's got Doc and Angel and the rest of us, the bastard can't break her. You gave that up, Sally, but she embraced it." _

"If you love her, Sally, you'll let her go when the times comes."

"Please, Mom..."

"Flo!" Sally called, voice cracking.

"Yeah, hon?" Flo asked, all-but slinking over. She was just as aware of what was happening as the rest of the crowd in front of the cafe. She exchanged a slight look with her husband and son behind her, then turned a small, loving smile on Arial.

"I need to borrow a pen," Sally whispered hoarsely.

With a sorrowful smile, Flo placed a pen on the table in front of Sally. Without looking up, the attorney signed her name across the bottom of the papers and pushed them across the table, "Go home, Arial. Doc'll be worried about you."

Arial smiled bitterly and, shoving the papers into her back pocket for safe keeping, ran out of the V8. She didn't stop until she burst through the doors of Doc Hudson's house and fell into his arms crying.

Sally fell onto her bed and buried her face in her pillow. Dozens of memories flashed through her mind, unbidden, unwanted. Her hand drifted up to her shoulder, to the tattoo hidden under her shirt.

"_Momma, what's that on your shoulder?"_

_Sally smiled at the five year old girl sitting on her bed, "Not now, Arial. Maybe when you're older."_

"I thought I'd finally gotten rid of all my devils," she whispered, letting her eyes drift closed, "I'm glad you found your angel…"

"_Lightnin'! C'mon, Blue Lightnin', we're gonna miss the race!"_

"_Calm down, Boost! I'm comin'!"_

_Arial. Sixteen years old. A girl with messy red hair, purple streaks, bright blue eyes, a troublemaker's smile, her father's racing jacket and Mater at her side._

_Angel. Twenty. Tall and dark skinned, dark haired, an ugly black eye and a mischievous smile._

_A gang of boys, laughing and shouting, streaks of neon in their hair and a lightning bolt emblem on their jackets._

"_Hey! Rookie!" A young man with straw colored hair and a wolfish smile, "Ready to have your bumper handed to ya?"_

"_I'd love to see ya try, Prince."_

"_Are you two at it again?" Black hair, pale skin, a loving smile and his father's name. "Can't we get through one race without you two trying to kill each other?"_

"_Give it up, Thunder! They can't live without fighting." Strip Weathers, The King, a few years older with a laughing Junior at his side._

_Arial playing her harp in the V8, a boy with blue and black hair playing a violin next to her, dozens of people crowded in around them._

_A familiar old racing trailer. Fillmore, Sarge, and Arial all sitting in a circle, more concerned with trying to sneak a pretzel from the pot than concentrating on their poker game._

_Explosions, shouting. An impossible image of Lightning and Arial sitting together on Willy's Butte watching the sunrise. Arial sitting up in a hospital bed, Doc sleeping with his head and arms rested on the bed. Angel and Mater leaning in the doorway._

_Four boys standing in a half-circle around a livid Arial, looking thoroughly stunned and confused and more than a little ashamed._

_Sarge chasing Arial around the V8, trying and failing to retrieve an old-fashioned camera from her while Flo and her customers laugh._

_Arial kneeling in front of a pair of graves, one old and one fresh._

_Gunshots. Screaming. Another hospital. Arial with her head nestled in the crook of her arm, tears on her face. Angel and several other boys guarding the doorway against television reporters._

_A painting hanging on a wall. Three race cars with their owners leaning against them. Three faces, three sets of stunning blue eyes emblazoned in the sky above. A bronze plate below it with the words "Fast Cars and Freedom" etched into it._

Somewhere, a radio began to play.

_You feel like a candle in a hurricane  
Just like a picture with a broken frame  
Alone and helpless like you've lost your fight  
But you'll be alright, you'll be alright _  
_  
Cause when push comes to shove  
You taste what you're made of  
You might bend 'til you break  
Cause it's all you can take  
On your knees you look up  
Decide you've had enough  
You get mad, you get strong  
Wipe your hands, shake it off  
Then you stand, then you stand _

Life's like a novel with the end ripped out  
The edge of canyon with only one way down  
Take what you're given before it's gone  
And start holdin' on, keep holdin' on

Cause when push comes to shove  
You taste what you're made of  
You might bend 'til you break  
Cause it's all you can take  
On your knees you look up  
Decide you've had enough  
You get mad, you get strong  
Wipe your hands, shake it off  
Then you stand, then you stand

Every time you get up and get back in the race  
One more small piece of you starts to fall into place – yeah


End file.
